R.J. Curtis of All Access says this album is a “masterpiece” and the best album of 2016 while comparing it to Randy Travis’ Storms of Life and Garth Brooks’ No Fences in how it could completely reshape the country format. And we don’t even need to wait until the 2nd half of the year to conclude this, just shower Maren Morris with all the plaudits now.

Well shit if that’s the case I guess I got the wrong album, because all I’m hearing is derivative, rehashed pop diva hip-hop crap from a honky chick hailing from white flight suburbia trying to exude too much attitude in songs that mix rap cadences with cultural misappropriations in an attempt to pander to a new demographic of music listeners since mainstream country has scared off or abandoned its core audience from the last 60 years.

In a word, Maren Morris’ HERO is bullshit.

I had high hopes for this record after hearing Maren’s debut single “My Church” and its references to the old greats of country music set in a distressed-sounding recording like it was pouring out of an old tape deck attached to Montgomery Ward speakers. Those who ventured to listen a little farther than the single and pulled up her previously-released EP would have known that any hope of Maren developing into some sort of vintage-inspired starlet were unfounded. But you thought that maybe she could at least bring something unique and interesting to the mainstream marketplace.

Instead HERO is all about attitude served up with three snaps in a ‘Z’ formation. This is way more Beyoncé than Barbara Mandrell, or even Taylor Swift. Meghan Trainor’s record is more country than this. HERO is simply an urban format album released to the country format because on KISS-FM this shit would never fly. HERO the female equivalent of Sam Hunt’s Montevallo.

It’s all about name dropping Prada and Mercedes, inessential cussing shoehorned in just to help express attitude that hopes to fill in for the lack of creative expression or story to the point where Maren Morris becomes nothing more than an uninteresting country music interloper who isn’t just helping to push the format towards pop, she’s actively severing the ties like a movie character frantically sawing at a rope before the bad guys scale the cliff face and get ’em.

But this is only partially about Maren Morris. It’s also about the producer “busbee” who’s been buzzing around country music for a while now after flunking out of pop, producing songs here and there where he also gets rewarded songwriting credits, and now he’s officially landed his first pet project a la Shane McAnally with Sam Hunt. These pop producers are uninterested in learning about the history and modes of country music. That would take too long, and would require heart. It’s much easier to turn country into pop from the inside out. That way you don’t have to learn a new skillset, and can make seven figures by walking away with songwriting credits for what ostensibly is production work. That’s the current Music Row system that results in a monstrosity like HERO.

One very minor saving grace is that most of this album is recorded with actual instruments and humans playing them. This is the subterfuge it uses to slide under the radar of country gatekeepers, but deconstructed it’s undoubtedly a hip-hop record, built around beats instead of melody, and self-aggrandization instead of story. The few melodies that do exist feel more like extensions of “nanny nanny boo boo” playground taunts, or are filched from well-established standards, like how Maren Morris’ “Rich” is ripped right from Steve Miller’s “The Joker.” And forget even straining your ear to hear any true country instrumentation because it’s not there.

Songs like “Rich,” the self-centered “80’s Mercedes,” and the swear-laden “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” evidence the worst that modern “country” music has to offer. No wonder Beyoncé fans want her recent song “Daddy Lessons” to be considered country. Queen Bee might as well get in on the action if these cute little white girls are going to continue to try and cash in on her style.

And don’t cast off all of this criticism as that of an out-of-touch traditionalist just wanting everything to stay the same, because sameness is exactly the problem with Maren Morris and HERO. No matter what radio station or mainstream playlist you pull up, all of the songs sound the same. HERO belongs on the hip-hop channel, but happens to be slotted in country. So no matter what format you pull up, it all sounds the same. Someone please tell me how less choice in any way benefits the modern music consumer? Diversity has been slaughtered not so that artists have more latitude with creative expression so music can “evolve.” It’s all about trying to appeal to the largest audience, and to the demographics seen as the most lucrative to advertisers.

And let’s stop holding up Maren Morris as an example of the surging women of country music that the genre needs. “My Church” maybe, but not HERO. Any positive attention this record gets is attention that any country artist, regardless of gender, deserves more. An album like HERO sets back the cause of expanding the female footprint in country because instead of exemplifying what makes the women of country music so great and unique, it makes them sound like stuck up, attitudinal, materialistic divas who expect the world to service them from their self-righteous pedestal. Don’t mistake this for empowerment. That is why the cause for country’s women needs to focus on the music first, instead of just cheering for certain artists based on their chromosomal makeup. No think pieces on NPR or Salon will make the music of HERO not suck or sound country. We should be putting female country’s best foot forward, including female artists who make country music in a more contemporary style, but that still is country.

HERO is not a complete zero. “My Church” is still a solid single for the mainstream, and “I Could Use a Love Song” and “I Wish I Was” could have worked as passable country songs if it wasn’t for busbee’s production. But like so many mainstream females before her, the labels release singles meant to take critics and traditionalists off guard and endear these new singers to the audience, only to spring the heavily pop-oriented material on you eventually, and usually resulting in a dramatic tapering off of attention as these performers lose what makes them interesting, and become just another pop star trying to make it in the country format.

The Maren Morris experiment started off positively with “My Church,” but she’s no “HERO” with this record as some are touting her. If she wants to save something, she could have saved us all the time and effort by leaving this record on the shelf.

Two Guns DOWN (1/10)

99 Comments

Anthony
June 6, 2016 @
8:57 am

These criticisms are probably accurate but I think the reality is that Maren is going to step into Miranda’s spotlight. I think at the least this already is going to put her into the usual roundup of female nominees with Miranda, Carrie, Kacey, and Kelsea.

I want to see Maren have a second successful single before I proclaim anything about her career. We’ve seen plenty of female artists have one big single, and then strike out continuously later. Only Kelsea Ballerini has been able to launch a career-sustaining string of singles. Not saying Maren can’t do it (especially since radio seems to like her, apparently), but I still want to see it.

So few females have this type of launch so while it isn’t easy for them to breakthrough, once they have the bar isn’t set very high. To me, country or not Maren has the IT factor that I don’t get from the Jana Kramers or Cams and that’s what I think will have her stepping over them.

Mark my words: that is going to be a huge hit for Maren. And the agonizing part of it all is, I actually love it as a summer jam of a pop song. But the fact “My Church” was used as bait to get her heels in the doors of Music Row and then subsequently use “80s Mercedes” as a ploy to sinew her place in the community and show she’s no one-and-done fluke but a viable successor of Miranda Lambert or Taylor Swift leaves quite a sour taste in my mouth.

And “80s Mercedes” actually reflects the album strikingly well as a whole. I can cheer a handful of these songs on if released to Pop radio with one had, while you see me shaking my fist as they’re marketed as country songs with the other.

“80’s Mercedes” is sickeningly infectious. It’s a pop hit for sure, but she’ll have to cross over to make it happen, and that didn’t work out well for Sam Hunt recently, while country may be leery to play it. We’ll see.

My prediction is the supposed “gatekeepers” of country music will ensure this becomes a #1 hit for her at Country radio, and then it will crossover and receive at least modest mainstream airplay as well.

The iTunes chart will reveal a lot as to its overall popularity. Right now it’s at #52 on the iTunes Country chart. That may seem underwhelming on the surface, but then again it was only announced to be her new single two days ago. I won’t be the least surprised if it surges into the Top Five within the next three weeks and country radio programmers respond to the strong sales-to-airplay results by maximizing its rotation.

It’s already in heavy rotation on Highway XM. Just about every time I’m flipping through channels in the car, I come across it. It is very infectious and a very good pop song. I have no doubt it’ll get pushed by Nashville.

Was actually afraid you were going to defend this album the way so many have. Glad you didn’t.

I think you’re pushing with all the urban/hip-hop labeling – just as you do with guys like Sam Hunt – but you’re dead-on with the gist of the criticism.

You’re also dead-on with the broader point about this “affirmative action” approach to women in country. People mistakenly believe the problem is that there “aren’t enough women on country radio.” That’s not the problem. The real problem is that there are talented women who are not getting the airplay they deserve. Just as there are talented males not getting the airplay they deserve.

And so instead of advocating for these true artists who deserve it, far too many take a “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” approach. If she has a vag, it’s nice that she’s on country radio.

With Maren Morris, you also have a bigger problem in that people seem willing to ignore her problems in a way that they don’t for other artists. While there is a huge affirmative action/more women = inherent good push, there *are* still some people who rip female-bro country acts like Kelsea Ballerini. Yet they turn around and claim Maren Morris is some legitimate savior, and I’m not seeing the difference.

“80s Mercedes” is a truck song with list lyrics and pop production. Florida Georgia Line releases a far catchier version of this, and it’s “bad for country.” Maren Morris releases it, and it’s genius. And the crazy thing is, the people calling it genius aren’t even denying that it’s pop. They just don’t seem to care for some reason.

Not to veer too far off-topic, but we’re seeing the same thing with this new Cassadee Pope song “Summer.” It’s dreadful – literally the same type of lyrical imagery as a song like “Cruise” but none of the catchiness or sincerity. And somehow, people aren’t bashing it.

While there is a huge affirmative action/more women = inherent good push, there *are* still some people who rip female-bro country acts like Kelsea Ballerini. Yet they turn around and claim Maren Morris is some legitimate savior, and I’m not seeing the difference.

“80s Mercedes” is a truck song with list lyrics and pop production. Florida Georgia Line releases a far catchier version of this, and it’s “bad for country.” Maren Morris releases it, and it’s genius. And the crazy thing is, the people calling it genius aren’t even denying that it’s pop. They just don’t seem to care for some reason.

I’ll take a cut at this. First of all, it’s probably true that since this is mainstream country radio we’re talking about, equal opportunity is female mediocrity like Kelsea Ballerini being able to hit just like all the indistinguishable male mediocrity does.

Second, I don’t subscribe to the “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” approach to females breaking through on country radio (I’ve argued that songs like Kelsea’s first two singles and RaeLynn’s first two singles actually set the cause back, and I don’t think much of the new Cassadee Pope song either). But there’s a reasonable defense of that approach, and it’s as follows: radio programming is driven largely by callout research. The songs that do better on callout research tend to sound familiar. Because females are chronically under-represented on the airplay charts, it becomes a self-reinforcing loop because listeners are less used to hearing females on the radio so they score their songs down, which makes it harder for female songs to break out. So there’s a rational argument that more females on country radio will open up space for other women. And yes, that applies equally to more traditional-sounding songs independent of artist gender, etc.

I’m not interested in defending Maren Morris’s album as country and the production for me is a definite weak point. But I’ll defend “80s Mercedes” as infinitely more listenable than a Florida Georgia Line song, starting with the vocal. FGL can’t even sing live without pitch correction and the overstuffed corporate rock productions of their pre-“H.O.L.Y.” songs were always way bigger than their teeny little thin voices could handle. Maren Morris does not have that problem. The woman can sing, she has a decent range, smart phrasing and strong vocal control – concepts foreign to most bros.

Too, FGL and the bros wouldn’t get crapped on if so many of their songs didn’t carry over the exact same imagery over similar melodies and chord structures. The songs were considered “bad for country” because they trivialized country lifestyle imagery through repetition. By contrast, you’re not going to find a song on [i]Hero[/i] that’s anything like “80s Mercedes” in imagery, and the song draws out the feeling of exhilaration of a night out from a very specific set of images that aren’t already commonly out there. Yes, the song’s branded all over the place, but it retains an individual feel to the lyrics. Bonus: no humans are objectified in this song!

So I reject the comparison between Maren Morris and the bros. I think Maren Morris is a hell of a lot more talented and much more worth defending than all of them. But that doesn’t mean I think [i]Hero[/i] is a country album or above criticism however it is classified.

If this is country, John Tesh is Alan Jackson. It’s the equivalent of slapping “nut-free” on a package of Planters. This is flat-out pop/adult contemporary, no question about it. What is wrong with you, Nashville?

Seeing this review and to have this album be compared to one of the greatest albums of the 90’s (and yes I say one of the greatest) “No Fences”. Not only am I giving this album a no but I’m giving this album a HELL FUCKING NO!

Just like people struggle to understand what feminism is, they struggle to understand what empowerment is, particularly pretty white girls who get what they want all the time and feel wronged when not catered to.

I heard an interview with her a couple days ago where she goes on saying how she’s influenced by so many different types of music and that’s what makes her album great. As soon as you hear someone in the “country” realm say that you know they’re going to suck balls.

I’m sorry but Sturgill definitely doesn’t suck, I saw his Sailor’s Guide to Earth Tour a few days ago in Chicago and he absolutely killed it and definitely is country while also fusing in different influences but he has even said that as soon as he opens his mouth it’s a country music, that guy is different than everyone else

While I’m disappointed by this album, I’m not all that surprised. While I definitely loved My Church some of the aspects of the production were red flags for me. It sounded a little too slick despite the “tape deck” haziness you described.

Maren Morris has a great voice. As a music in general fan, I enjoy several songs off this album and it’s definitely a cut above artists like Thomas Rhett who can’t actually sing. But this album belongs on pop/rock radio. They’ve been playing 80’s Mercedes on XM a lot recently and my wife and I both agreed the song was catchy, but was in no way remotely a country song. At best, some of these songs are good pop songs. Some are bad pop songs with un-intelligent lyrics. None are country songs.

look around: Cam, Maren Morris, Maddie and Tae… the ones who are getting famous are the ones making the worst music… not that that should be a surprise.

If only this were a Margo Price album… it would at least sound like real Country Music… I never imagined I’d be applauding Margo Price, but at least she makes Country Music the right way…

Also, hate to go off topic, but I thought folks might care to know that I enjoyed the Sturgill Simpson concert immensely, he wasn’t angry or profane, and acted entirely different from the way Trig described him in his review… The combination of his thick southern brogue and a poor sound system made him almost unintelligible, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy performing… it was definitely a good show… even if I really couldn’t understand him. he did the new album in its entirety at the end of the show, and most of the songs from his first two albums. He played mostly acoustic, for what it’s worth.

I reiterate: we need to fix the quality of the music before we fix the woman problem. Otherwise all we will get is stupid music made by women. I would rather hear quality music made by all men, instead of bad music made by both men and women…

The problem is not female representation, it’s quality. and all the people pushing for female airplay before the push for greater quality are only going to get poor quality music, even if it is made by a female…

I still think it is the men who embody the worst of what mainstream country has to offer at the moment, and female artists who offer the best opportunity to improve mainstream music. I agree it should be about improving the music in general, but that sort of glosses over that it’s quality female acts that are getting less chances than the male ones.

I’ll just say I didn’t hate it as music. I have two girls and so I’m constantly inundated with Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and that ilk. This is that to me… with a little toned-down Ke$ha thrown in for good measure. I wouldn’t seek it out, and wouldn’t call it country, but I do like some of the rhymes and found it catchy and even funny at times.

Comparing it to Storms of Life and No Fences and calling it game-changing is silly. I missed most of the hype on it, or I’d probably hate it as much as you do… but I came in with no expectations and left mildly amused and with an alternative to listening to Swift asking 1000 times if we’re out of the woods yet… yep… I’ve only listened to that song twice.

I like how you pointed out the cursing was completely unnecessary… especially in Rich… it’s completely there for some sort of cool factor. At least in Drunk Girls Don’t Cry she rhymes “Bullshit” with “You Know It.”

Good review… as usual… I’d throw a couple more points at it… but that’s it.

I didn’t mind the cussing in “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” as much because that was sort of the attitude of the song. But you’re right about “Rich.” If I had young children, I would have been taken off guard. It’s almost like a G-rated movie throwing in a cuss word or two to get to PG or PG-13 so that teenagers are not turned off.

Dude don’t down Maddie and Tae atleast their album sounded country and not just straight up pop. Margo Price has one of the best albums of the year!! I don’t know why you are down on her. Let’s face it women are making better music than guys right now in country music. It’s funny because I bought this album off the strength of “My Church” honestly as a pop/rap record it’s fantastic….country absolutely not, But wouldn’t agree with 1 out of 10 rating.

Ouch! 🙂 Yeah, I got pretty much the same vibe just reading AllMusic.com’s (rave) review the other day; without even listening to the samples from the other tracks besides “My Church,” I could tell this is something else that’s going to get near-universal praise for “pushing the genre forward” despite being virtually indistinguishable from most Top 40 pop. :p

It’s not great, and there’s no way in hell this should be labeled country. But there are some compliments to give this album. The album has some real energy (and instruments), and Maren Morris keeps up. She’s a solid singer. The writing is passable. If there are two complaints I have, it’d be that all the songs blend together at times. Also, there are times when the instruments really need some texture (for example, the guitar on Rich). Ultimately, the worst problem is the name dropping of every person or brand you can think of. Sometimes, this feels more like a commercial than an album. It’s not great, but it’s certainly not bad.

I do understand where Trigger and others are coming from in how slighted they feel in seeing her use “My Church” as bait to Music Row and then subsequently pull a Sam Hunt and peddle aggressively un-country music from within. It’s like those cliched scenes in movies where attractive females use their sex appeal and seduction techniques to bend gatekeepers to their will. So I totally get why their reviews are scathing.

After streaming this, realizing there’s almost nothing country about any of this album, and then reapproaching it as a pop album, I like it well enough on that basis.

Hey, you call this album pop and release it to the pop format, I’m probably giving it 5/10 as well. No doubt there is some infectiousness here, and it’s an appropriate album for pop. But call it country and it’s going to start racking up demerits left and right.

Precisely why I give it a zero as a “country album” but a Strong 5/Light 6 as an Adult Top 40/Pop album.

Columbia Nashville knew what they were doing when they calculatingly pitched “My Church” as the lead single. It was bait to Music Row, plain and simple. Then once that caught on, they’d use “80’s Mercedes” in the hopes of sinewing her place into Music Row. Because they KNOW it’s such an infectious sing-along song that’s obviously going to hit big, and any resistance met from country purists would be counteracted with the whole “Typical Music Row misogyny!” excuse because, after all, they’ve already lapped up Sam Hunt.

That’s what makes this situation even more agonizing than that of Sam Hunt’s “Montevallo”. “Montevallo” is a terrible debut album regardless of genre between the self-serving and dry lyricism, ridiculously synthetic production and Hunt’s unremarkable vocals. But “Hero” actually shows signs of promise for Top 40 audiences. Thus, seeing her being shamelessly marketed as a country act makes matters all the more insufferable.

As a country album, I’d give it a 2. There are a couple of songs that fit into country; “My Church”, “I Wish I Was”, and “I Could Use A Love Song”. Otherwise, again, there’s no reason that this should be called country.

On a side note, I see ads for this album all over the place; “featuring My Church, Rich, and 80s Mercedes”, so I would bet Rich is the third single. If I had to guess, “I Wish I Was” would probably be the fourth single as well. Just a hunch.

The reason I give it a zero as a country album is because albums are meant to be cohesive works that speak to who you are (or, in the event of a concept album, create characters and tell their stories) or perhaps also speak about broader issues in both the personal and universal sense.

On that basis, “Hero” flat-out fails. So, as a full work, I think it deserves the dubious dishonor of a zero in the context of reviewing country albums despite having “My Church” and a couple of other tracks that pass off well enough as country-friendly on paper but are stymied by synthetic production choices.

*

As far as singles are concerned, I think you’re mostly right.

I do expect “Sugar” will eventually be released, though. It’s probably my single least favorite track on the album, but it clearly sounds tailor-made for radio in a way second only to the far superior “80s Mercedes”. I think it’ll likely be the fourth single instead of “I Wish I Was”.

If “Hero” becomes a breakout major success for Maren and justifies a fifth single, I then think it will probably go to either “I Wish It Was” if they want something more intimate, or “How It’s Done” if they’re aiming for something more anthemic.

I was taking my RV to get work done on it the other day and having no CDs I turned on the radio. Maren’s My Church was playing. I let it play but changed the station when some crappy song came up next. My Church was playing on the next station, and then on the next after that. On my way back it happened again. Like it or not I think this album is going to sell a lot, and will probably be the next big thing this summer.

“My Church” is a downright good song for mainstream country, and it’s the one saving grace of this record. But it’s also on its way out on country. If this record births a summer anthem, it will be “80’s Mercedes.”

I liked “My Church” at first because I think I bought into the hype that this is a good country song. Now that it’s being played to death and my brain is saturated, you know what – it’s NOT a good song. Marginal, that is all.

This album is like the equivalent of machine-gunned F-Yous with a devilish smirk at the country listening demographic. It is about as insulting to country listeners and their listeners as can get.

That said, I do like plenty of the album as an album it’s SUPPOSED to be marketed to: Adult Top 40.

*

It’s pretty clear, when you’re listening to this, that she has three main influences surrounding her music: the bluesy soul of Bonnie Raitt, the Top 40-sensible eclectic heartland pop-rock of Sheryl Crow and the Rhythmic attitude of Rihanna. Neither of which are decidedly country, but are both capable of offering something interesting.

The Rihanna influence is instantly detected on the album opener, “Sugar”. From her gratuitous swearing to the verses going to mimic her Barbados patois, she nails her formula to a tee while opting for some cello-like bass and live drums to try and give off a veneer of the organic. However, the written-by-committee lyricism easily makes this one of the worst tracks on the album.

“Rich” follows and, again, she clearly derives from some of Rihanna’s Caribbean influences, though here you sense more of Sheryl Crow’s DNA with the use of well-timed guitar riffs that sound reminiscent of “Tuesday Night Music Club”. The lyrics again render this a headache: trying to present itself as a clever lyrical conceit but is, in truth, juvenile.

“My Church” follows and remains one of her strongest individual efforts. “I Could Use A Love Song” then presents a more understated offering that is undermined slightly by synthetic chimey production elements and a percussion arrangement that feels a bit robotic, but otherwise sounds genuine and has its heart in the right place. It just would have benefited better by a fully organic production is all.

Next we get what is destined to be a breakout earworm of a hit: “80’s Mercedes”. As much as I dread the thought of this eventually becoming a #1 on Country radio and unmistakably oppose that, it is harmless and damn solid as a pop song. Lyrically, it is one of Morris’ more honest offerings as to intergenerational pride set to a summery joyride. Nothing deep obviously, but doesn’t have to be when you accept it as it is: an infectious summer jam for Top 40 radio. And it honestly has been stuck in my head since beginning my review.

“Drunk Girls Don’t Cry”, unfortunately, crashes back to mediocrity. This sounds like an unfortunate attempt to market Rihanna to those who typically prefer Jason Mraz-esque “Waiting For My Rocket to Come” era blandness. Forced swearing distracts from the lyricism altogether, which itself is nothing interesting. The instrumentation and production is agreeable enough as long as it is being projected to Adult Top 40 as opposed to within a 500-foot radius of country radio, but it’s a pretty forgettable affair.

“How It’s Done” is just…………………..there. It sounds more like something clinically designed for white suburbanites at karaoke bars who are eager to channel their inner-pop diva: replete with the Amy Heidemann-Noonan of Karmin-ish semi-rapped bridge. But it isn’t offensive to the ears either. It neither adds or detracts from the album.

“Just Another Thing” again is like a bland reinterpretation of Sheryl Crow’s instrumentation stamped with a Max Martin-ish chorus. There’s nothing unlistenable about this necessarily but, again, what’s the payoff? Especially given this is your debut album, what are you trying to say or prove? That you’re a young woman who loves listening to Sheryl Crow…………………..and Bonnie Raitt………………………and Rihanna…………………….and Jason Mraz……………………………and so on? What are YOU trying to say is my question.

“I Wish I Was” is another moment where her Bonnie Raitt side comes out more fully: both in terms of vocals and instrumentation. She sounds great here, and the lyrics go for more of sincere introspection than the majority surrounding it.

“Second Wind” was initially introduced to me by listening to the deluxe edition of Kelly Clarkson’s album “Piece By Piece”. So it’s not surprise that it comes across as another female empowerment, reach-for-the-rafters pop anthem. It’s agreeable as is, just forgettable is all. And seeing that this is easily the least eclectic-sounding track on the entire album, at this point you’re left wondering if any of the aforementioned tracks would have been left any stronger or weaker if the production was handled by Jon Levine, the man who produced Rachel Platten’s unbearably bland breakout album “Wildfire”, instead. It just feels like the eclectic instrumentation choices are more of a smoke and mirrors screen at times to distract from how otherwise Rachel Platten or Charlie Puth-bland the effort would be.

Finally, we come to “Once”. It has the right idea what it’s trying to achieve on a lyrical basis, but it drags somewhat due to the mechanical production that robs this of the intimacy it was undoubtedly striving for.

*

So, look: this is a flaming failure as a so-called “country album”, and that needs to be inflected as loudly and widely as possible. And it is genuinely insulting that she is attempting to pull a Sam Hunt and use “My Church” as a bargaining chip to infiltrate Music Row from the outside.

But unlike Sam Hunt and “Montevallo”, which is a terrible debut album regardless of genre, “Hero” actually has its moments and is a fairly decent pop album. A mess of a debut album for sure, but still having enough moments to convince me the talent is there and it’s just a matter of finding better peers to utilize it. In helping her find HER voice, and not only paying homage to Raitt, Crow and Rihanna.

This is obviously a ZERO as a country album. But as an Adult Top 40/Mainstream Top 40 album, I’m thinking a Strong 5 to Light 6 out of ten for this.

I liked “My church” when it came out and had great hopes for this album. Now that radio has completely over played it, I’ve worn down and was disappointed when I heard the other songs on the album. She does give off the same attitude vibe that Miranda does so I’m guessing that she will go far.

On a side note, I did love her duet with Dierks (I’ll be the Moon) and wish that he had made that his new single over the one that he chose. The theme might not agree with everyone but the emotional depth to the song is what radio seems to be missing.

It will be interesting to see what radio does with her second single but I’m guessing that it will be another radio hit even though it isn’t “country”.

“I’ll Be The Moon” is definitely one of the stronger tracks off of “Black”.

I wish the production wasn’t inert as it is there. It just sounds too anonymous and lacking the teeth necessary to complement a nuanced look at cheating.

But I really appreciate that the writers attempt to explore the tired topic of cheating in a way that isn’t reactionary a la “Redneck Crazy”, “Before He Cheats”, “Kerosene”, etc. Some puritans may argue it moves too far towards being an apologist for that kind of sexual dishonesty, but especially when cheating is so commonplace (certainly much more than most of us would like to admit), to me songwriting can be a solid way to consider other perspectives and situations that we seldom really get to think about, and I don’t think it would hurt to have more songs that try and tap into the psyche and intentions of those kind of relationships.

I much prefer “I’ll Be The Moon” to what must have been a RaeLynn-ghostwritten “Different For Girls” any day.

Thanks for the review. After “My Church” I, like many, had high hopes. I listened to the EP and those hopes died with the other songs on it. I had little anticipation left for the full album, your review confirms those fears. I’ll probably listen to it once on Spotify just to do it, but I imagine My Church will be the only Maren Morris on my playlist, at least until the next album comes out.

Maren has always been a pop star living in the country world. She grew up around country music and her earlier efforts (which are hard to find, but exist on Pandora) are not pure country so it is no surprise to me that she decided to hit the pop stride with this album. I think she feels as though this album is “country” because that is what she knows, growing up in Texas and subsequently moving to Nashville, being best friends with people like Kacey Musgraves and Brothers Osborne both of whom are decidedly more “country” than Maren despite still having somewhat of a pop element. So I think she went about recording a country-influenced pop album to market as country because she just doesn’t know any better. I also think her songwriting is better than you give her credit for and the production on most of the songs would be very good if you were making a Katy Perry record. But again, it’s not country so the criticisms are all deserved. Brandy Clark’s new album on the other hand…now that’s a country record.

It becomes less excusable, however, when you consider the fact that she explicitly cites (or name-drops) Hank Williams and Johnny Cash in the second chorus of her debut single “My Church”.

Thus, one of two hypotheticals must be true: 1) She consciously went into writing and recording this song (and “Hero”) knowing at least some of the catalog of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, but nonetheless still insisted on flexing her Rhythmic influences primarily and insist Music Row roll along with it since Mainstream Top 40 ad Urban radio won’t take her as a staple artist, or 2) Maren actually has minimal-to-no exposure to the music of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash outside of maybe both their single most recognized songs, and busbee was the one who suggested she name-drop those two legends to build street credibility. Or, worse, Maren was consciously aware of how often corporate entertainers on country/”country” radio namedrop them as is, so calculatingly chose to do the same.

It’s dishonest either way. I understand why Mainstream Top 40 isn’t going to adopt her as one of their own staple acts and, at best, will only make “80’s Mercedes” a one-time major hit for her. I get why many would conclude Country is the most viable format to play to for those who grew up on as much Adult Alternative radio as they did TLC. But the way Maren and Columbia Nashville have chosen to go about establishing her just reeks as cynically-minded subterfuge.

That’s fair. I’m not trying to make excuses for her, but I think she probably does know the catalog of Hank and Cash (although the songs she cites aren’t really reflective of this), it’s just that she’s had influences that range from pop to country. From Johnny Cash to Beyonce. And I understand those influences because my musical tastes range across the entire genre spectrum. I know much of the catalog of Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson but I also know a lot of Foo Fighters and Katy Perry songs. Like I said, it’s country-inspired pop and I don’t think she knows any better. But I’m not trying to defend or make excuses to call this a country album, and the fact that they can market it as country and get Billboard and the likes to go along with them is the real problem.

I also think “My Church” is an honest song and when she wrote it she was writing it as a country song (or her idea of country), so she name-dropped country artists. Similar to, I think, when she wrote “Rich” it was primarily R&B influenced so she name-drops Diddy. Her EP that she released long ahead of her album did not hide the fact that she had pop influences in the majority of her music and I think the promotion of her as a country artist was done by her label based solely on “My Church” and how, like you said, they knew she wouldn’t get played anywhere else. But so much of popular music these days is political so it wouldn’t surprise me if you and Trigger were both right and Maren is just writing music to pander to radio and the younger audience who doesn’t know the difference.

“Brandy Clark’s new album on the other hand…now that’s a country record.”

Yup. 🙂 Though I’m still not keen on “Girl Next Door,” I’d say overall it’s a pretty good mix of cute ditties in the “Stripes”/”Get High” vein (“Soap Opera,” “Daughter,” the title cut) and touching ballads (“Since You’ve Gone to Heaven,” “Three Kids and No Husband”).

I prefer “Hero” to both those albums, though I thought “Black” potentially could have been a solid album if someone other than Ross Copperman had produced it and they dispensed with a small handful of gimmick songs like “Pick Up” and “Freedom” as inessential filler.

“Ripcord” isn’t a good album, but it did have a few songs I wouldn’t mind if played on Adult Top 40 radio: namely “Gone Tomorrow (Here Today)”, “Sun Don’t Let Me Down” (I know many can’t stand Pitbull, but I personally credit him for being a charismatic, energetic entertainer in spite of always recycling his exact same lines and Nile Rodgers provides an infectious riff for that track) and “Gettin’ In The Way”. And if I phase out the douchey lyrics and pretend it’s an instrumental, “Blue Ain’t Your Color” is pretty solid too. Otherwise, yeah: a pretty empty waste of time.

A lot of the problem I’ve had with albums lately has actually been production. I think with a different production style Blake’s album would’ve been good (listening to some of those songs acoustic is a totally diff feel), Black had some good songs with production issues, though nothing would’ve saved different for girls.

It’s nice to see she is following the new format of country where you name drop irrelevant rappers.Also,her use of the word “shit” is almost as edgy as Musgraves reminding us how much she likes weed in every other song. Gets a big yawn and one flush for me.

You’re wrong here, Trigger, and you’re playing into the caricature that Nashville makes you out to be. You’re reviewing an album as a 40 year old or 50 year old (genuinely have no clue how old you are, my guess on your age is based off of your knowledge of “the greats”) male, when this album is made for female millennials. As Windmills said, this album is far more valuable than Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean’s recent offerings. Through clever writing, real instruments (!), and an actual voice (both lyrically and her actual singing voice), Morris offers a middle ground between Kacey Musgraves and Kelsea Ballerini. As country continues to move towards “pop-ier” production, while Cam’s and Maddie & Tae’s translations remains my favorite, Morris’ isn’t bad.

This album is clearly influenced by country–what genre is the album as a whole, though? I don’t know. I’ve described Maren as “if Meghan Trainer grew up in New Orleans and then moved Nashville after dropping out of community college.” Is that “country?” I don’t know. I do know that “Hero” is “summer-y” like Shania, empowering like Martina, and funny like Loretta. Those things prove that this album is worth more than FLG or Dan + Shay’s entire discography.

This album isn’t good because it’s a traditional country album (it’s far from that), it’s good because despite playing into modern country tropes, it’s the absolute best album it could be. The definition of “country” is changing and broadening, and that makes us all nervous, but I would rather listen to well made music without a fiddle in earshot than reductive music with shitty GarageBand beats any day of the week.

” As Windmills said, this album is far more valuable than Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean’s recent offerings.”

I would agree, and that is why I called Florida Georgia Line’s last record the worst ever.

But the thing is, if our only rationale, or even part of the logic of why we like this Maren Morris record is because it’s not as bad as the bros, that’s addition by subtraction, and a backhanded compliment. It also leads country down a slippery slope. How about we call music good because it’s good? As I’ve said in other comments, as a pop album, it’s passable. But you won’t find this in the pop section of the record store. It was released as a country album, and ended up on my desk, so I have no other choice but to consider it country. And as a country record, it’s terrible.

“you’re playing into the caricature that Nashville makes you out to be”

I didn’t even know that “Nashville” was even paying that close attention to me. But I’ll take that as a compliment 🙂

Um, it doesn’t make some of us “nervous”, it pisses us off. Edm, laundry lists, pop duets, this isn’t “evolving”. Also the content of endless selfies, one night stands, endless boring citations of country singers instead of actual storytelling and messages, stupid lyrics like”dipping diamonds like Marilyn”, rampant materialism, and absolutely zero songs about work ethic, real life shit and ANY songs about the actual country (except lame references to screwing along with crickets) make current country music TOTAL GARBAGE. Maren’s album might be good to you, but please spare me the whole we need to “broaden” our horizons. Puke.

I liked it at first, like Cam’s “Burning House.” Until got played over. And over. AND OVER again. Like, hourly. Then you realize it’s not a fantastic song or game changer, it’s just pretty good. Nothing special, though. These songs only stand out because they’re better than most of what gets played on radio.

Same! I also didn’t really like “My Church”. I didn’t like how she cited Hank and Cash- it just didn’t ring true, I don’t buy it. I have a feeling that neither Hank nor Cash are her go to in her car for much of anything, but that’s been my gut feeling all along. Just marketing. I think I’ll skip this album as my gut feeling was also right all along. I just can’t say 1 more time, “it’s a good song, but it’s not country.” As far as the female issue goes, the talent is definitely out there, but is not getting nearly enough radio play. Then again, why look for actual female country singers when Nicki Minaj is available?

HERO is comparable to No Fences? Huh? Did I forget to clean the wax out of my ears? At least Garth put some steel guitar, fiddle, and no hip hop in that album. No songs on HERO can top a song like “Unanswered Prayers” or “Two of a Kind, Workin’ On a Full House.” I have to agree “My Church” is somewhat a good (not great) song, but after listening to “Rich” and “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry”, made the claim that this is comparable to one of the greatest albums on the 90s, more idiotic. Shaking my dang head, great that there is the “Next Women of Country.” But, with all this hip/hop, pure junk, so much for Maren being one of them, more like the “Next Disgrace of Country.”

Did she actually say, “dippin’ diamonds like Marilyn?” Did I hear that correctly? What in the f*** does that even mean? I couldn’t get through it. The paragraph in the review starting “Well shit if that’s the case” sums it up brilliantly.

Been interested to hear your perspective on her debut, Trig. Thanks for the insight. I haven’t listened to all of it (and probably won’t, thanks to folks like you taking a bullet for me lol), but now we know that she’s like the rest of the females churning out crap to the charts just polished enough to hit #1 and be called “the next big woman in Country music.” I, like you, took a very broad ‘wait and see’ approach toward her debut album…and while it’s validating to be right, ’cause even with the old-timey record sound she had on ‘My Church’, she still sounded autotuned to hell – I kinda wanted to think that she’d have more COUNTRY instrumentation and certainly a more traditional sound with the rest of the tracks. Alas, I’ll just have to keep my hopes up that the cyclical nature of this genre will wipe out the majority of pop country offerings in the next few years.

Your review is absolutely , totally and completely dead on Trigger .THIS along with nearly every other mainstream Nashville release these days IS NOT COUNTRY MUSIC BY ANY DEFINITION OR STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION .

BUT !!!!! In this non-descript ‘ throw- it- all- at-the -wall- and- see- what- sticks ‘ musical genre they are CALLING country, Maren Morris ‘ stuff is high on the list of palatable fare for several reasons.
1. ( as you rightly point out ).. .tracks are delivered with conviction by REAL musicians
2. CLEVER songwriting fleshed out and crafted to the nth .
3. Maren can SING .

To my ear , much of this stuff is Kacey or Brandy Clark on steroids…Ok ..perhaps more in the Kelsey Ballerini camp of teeny-rap-pop …but in many ways as well crafted as the aforementioned in terms of a completely explored song idea even if that idea is only relate able to be a small segment of listeners who DO NOT BUY MUSIC .

Again ( and again and again and again ) I think our biggest issue with whatever this stuff is is the industry calling and marketing this as ‘ country ‘ music to a demographic that wouldn’t know country music if it hacked their Twitter accounts when it couldn’t be further from the country genre if it was produced on Mars .

As a POP album I really like it, I will admit to that. There’s something I like about it that I can’t shake, and I also thing it’s fun to have a catchy pop album for summertime- especially one with bether-than-half-decent lyrics.

But I agree. This is not a country album- by any stretch. I’m honestly astounded by how anyone could even call this country? There are 3 country-influenced songs here at best- My Church, ICUALS and I Wish I Was.

To the point you made about Taylor Swift- I think the reason she was able to do what she did within the Country format is because all her songs had at least a little country influence to them- enough to be ‘country pop’.
BUT the main difference between Maren and Taylor is the authenticity of their song’s lyrics. Even if they were perhaps a little on the ‘immature’ side, Taylor’s songs were all genuine- there is no denying that. They were about her life- you can tell she really poured her heart into her songs.
With Maren however, the lyrics come off manufactured and somewhat fake. They sound like they were written for her ‘sassy’ persona. In truth only a margin of these songs sound heartfelt, believable.
But I still kinda like it- because as pop artist these things work. But in the country world being false doesn’t fly.

In my opinion, ‘Rich’ and ’80s Mercedes’ are the worst on the album, and ‘ICUALS’ and ‘My Church’ are the best.
But I really dig ‘Just Another Thing’ as a pop song.

Last night I listen to her cd thoroughly I thought it was a fairly good cd. I would give this cd a 7/10 1 1/2 guns up. I would compare this to Shania Twain “Come on over” and Taylor Swift “Fearless” to “Red” cd’s.

Maren Morris is not country, she is pop and yet her music is country. Why can’t country music go worldwide these days? Why junk music like pop music makes more money than country music like Luke Bryan. Country music like Florida Georgia Line is suppose to go worldwide and have country music videos gained so many views. But no, Nashville is very protective on country music is ruining country music are big popular music appearance and never stops. Why can’t country music be big and yet junk music like Beyonce makes so much money these days? I hate junk music is more popular than country music appearance. Bring back country music is better than junk music appearance. I’m sick of alot of people like adults listen to more junk music like Justin Bieber than country music like Cam. It’s getting annoying. Why people like kids hates country music and prefer junk music like money these days. Great, now country music is gonna miss out general public because general public hates country music like Jason Aldean and Nashville can only promote country music to North America/local/regular music/country stations at the same time. ARGH! >:(

I’m LAUGHING at anyone who thought that Maren Morris had a “classic country” sound and thought that the album would be a country record. I KNEW this girl was a total fraud the very first time I heard “My Church”. I got a major “white trash” vibe from Maren when i first heard “My Church”, it just sounds like something that some white brokeass trailer park queens living off welfare and have kids to 3 different fathers at the mere age of 19 would jam out to and claim that that’s “her shit”. After seeing the music video, the only thing I thought is wow Maren Morris surely is going to be the new “role model” for the white trash wanna-be country folk of the millennial generation. “Little Red Wagon”, eat your fucking heart out, that was the theme song of white trash, but Maren Morris takes the cake and CROWNS it with this bullshit. I knew this girl was a joke from DAY ONE!

wow, all the BASHING! Just u wait and see! Look where Taylor Swift is NOW! Obviously you’ve never followed your dreams. Millions of people love different music. Let it be and enjoy what each person brings to the table. And who? Said it was a country album.? Ever heard of bullying….

COUNTRY MUSIC ???
Tired of ‘it ain’t Merle Haggard, where’s the real country music’ vibe, mostly from older people, singularly focused!….Country music, bluegrass, blues, all started w/people just singing/harmonizing together, ‘re: the rough patches
of life…Instruments: guitars, banjos, harmonica, accordions (then drums, then
electric guitars, etc), were added later…Willie & Waylon were ‘outlaws’, now re-
vered..Hank Sr, Patsy & Loretta wailed their feelings – in shiny, sparkly outfits…
Merle himself was from Bakersfield, Ca., not the deep South & used an electric
Fender guitar!….COUNTRY MUSIC IS ABOUT HOW IT MAKES A PERSON FEEL,
WHETHER IT’S HAUNTING, HAPPY, SAD OR DANCE-ABLE, DEPENDING ON A
PERSON’S MOOD…No matter what people put down, others are going to like it,
if it resonates in THEIR life!!…
Our fav. band, for example, is Home Free, world’s only all vocal country band…
‘All vocal’ lends itself to do covers, in a whole new way, but their originals are our favs…Someone said if you can’t sing “RING OF FIRE” like Johnny Cash’s orig., why bother singing it?…Guess what, his was just a cover also, his sister-in-law Anita Carter sang the original!..Aren’t you glad that he ‘covered’ it, in his own way??…Home FREE’s cover of his cover is incredible & so is their original
“I’VE SEEN” (Rain In The Mississippi Delta)!…They use only their voices, to cre-
ate harmonies, bass & drum sounds, like the basics, yet country radio is only
now slowly playing their music, altho their last album was #4!….WE FANS WILL
BUY WHAT WE LOVE, PERIOD…. 🙂

Gotcha….Just would like naysayers to open their minds to all ‘styles’ of country..Just YouTube’d a young Irish singer & a Dutch singer w/com-pletely different approaches, both beautiful & ‘country’ at heart! They will probably never be heard on the radio, cuz labels only push a ‘sure thing’ (over & over)!….Nice to hear from someone w/good sensibility, btw!! 🙂
.
Did u like Home Free’s “RING OF FIRE”, “ELVIRA” collab. w/Oaks, “I’VE SEEN”-orig., or even “CHAMPAGNE TASTE ON A BEER BUDGET”-hilarious orig…..or not your taste?

Hi! Actually I love all kinds of music, if it’s done well and pleases my ears.. In every genre, there’s going to be songs/compositions that hit you hard, others so-so & some don’t bother with…People forget that artists work hard at their craft & it just seems that people get very…err..passionate about what they DON’T like & can get very nasty in their remarks…Never
understood it…
My fav.. Band ‘Home Free’ released an awesome VIRAL version of Lee Greenwood’s “GOD BLESS THE USA”, they originally arranged right after
9/11 & it’s just 5 guys saying they love their country…Well, though every-
one loved the song, all the ‘passionate’ people & trolls came out & HAD
to make a comment about the state of our country, espec. the older
generation..It wasn’t a political statement!..
Then they rlsd a killer, gospel-y version of “MY CHURCH” & a few thought
it was sacrilege, others said it was too churchy for them…Can’t win them
all, I guess..Just wish people were more civilized in their comments… 🙂

i agree with the reviewer, to a great degree. To give this album a praise it deserves – it is unendurable. Production like this makes one come to a conclusion that the invention of the concentration camps was not a bad idea.

Who in the hell can listen to her voice droning on and on and on…This record represents everything wrong with not only country music, but music in general. After its all sid and done, Maren Morris will be footnote in the dustbin of music history.